Clynelish

The Clynelish single malt brand is one of the oldest in Scotland, with distillery bottlings having been advertised as early as the late-19th century by owners, Ainslie & Heilbron, despite its importance to their blends. They carried on this practice in the 20th century as well, after the license for the distillery was assigned to them by the Distillers Company. Bottlings from this period are instantly recognisable by their classic white labels with gothic typeface, and bottlings were available in 5- and 12-year age statements.

In 1973, a new orange and brown label was used on a special bottling for Edoardo Giaccone in Italy, which was rolled out permanently for the 12-year-old in 1977. A new yellow label for the 5-year-old also appeared in the late 1970s, bearing a closer resemblance in theme to the previous livery. Ainslie & Heilbron was gradually wound down by the Distillers Company in the 1980s and their blends were discontinued. As a result, their bottling facilities were closed and Gordon & MacPhail became the official licensed bottlers for Clynelish in 1984. Ainslie & Heilbron would remain as named proprietors on the label however.

Gordon & MacPhail bottlings using the orange and brown label continued in the 1990s, although Clynelish distillery bottlings also returned in 1991 when it joined the original Flora & Fauna roster. It was not until 2002 however that an official Clynelish brand would be relaunched by Diageo, joining Caol Ila nd Glen Elgin as part of what was known as the Hidden Malts stable. The core range continues to be headlined by the same 14-year-old age statement that was introduced in 1991, and with Clynelish malt still a vital part of the Johnnie Walker blends, only sporadic limited editions are released to support it.

Clynelish Distillery
Brora
Sutherland
KW9 6LR
Scotland